SURESH KUMAR MANDAL Vs. STATE OF BIHAR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS writ application under Article 226 of the Constitution of India has been filed on behalf of 67 petitioners who were engaged on daily wage basis on various class IIl/class IV posts within Irrigation .Circle Il, Jamui under the Superintending Engineer, Water Resources Department, Government of Bihar. Their grievance is against termination of their daily wage employment pursuant to impugned notices contained in Annexure -ll series. They have also sought quashing of order dated 7.12.1995 contained in Annexure -15 by which their representations were rejected and the decision to terminate their employment was maintained. Consequently the petitioners have prayed for a direction to the respondent authorities to reinstate the petitioner in service and to further direct them to grant to the petitioners the benefit of permanent absorption into government service With appropriate scale of pay and other benefits on account of their long engagement on daily wage basis and also on account of Government 's policy decision dated 18.6.1993 as contained in Annexure -8.

(2.) THE essential facts of the case lie within a narrow compass and are not much in dispute. The petitioners were engaged on daily wage basis between the year 1979 -1985 but prior to 1.8.1985. This date is of considerable significance in view of Government 's policy decision contained in Annexure -8 according to which all those daily wage employees who were engaged as such after 1.8.1985 have to be removed but those engaged earlier and had completed 240 days of continuous service were to be considered for absorption in the regular service under Government of Bihar depending upon availability of sanctioned posts and the requirement to fill up such posts. Even before the policy dated 18.6.1993 (Annexure -8) was published in the gazette, the petitioners and many other similarly situated persons had moved this Court through a batch of three writ petitions filed in the years 1988 and 1989. Those writ petitions were disposed of by order dated 12.3.1993 (Annexure -3) whereby this court directed the Secretary -cum -Commissioner, Irrigation Department, Government of Bihar to take a final decision regarding regularisation of petitioners ' service within four months and further directed that as long as the petitioners are working they must be paid wages at the rates equivalent to the minimum pay in the pay scales of the regular employed workers on the same or comparable posts. According to the petitioners, the later part of the direction of this court made the concerned authorities hostile to the claim of the petitioners for regularization and hence, all those employees who had moved this Court were given show cause notices dated 1.2.1994 for termination of employment. The show cause filed in the matter was rejected by an order dated 21.1.1994 contained in Annexure -7. By this order it was held that several projects in which daily wage employees had been engaged were on verge of closure and hence, due to this reason as well as due to shortage of funds, the Department was under compulsion to reduce its expenses on establishment and hence, petitioners ' services were decided to be terminated in accordance with Section 25 F of the Industrial Disputes Act. Against the order contained in Annexure -7, the petitioners and some others moved this Court through a writ petition bearing CWJC No. 11286 of 1994 which was finally disposed of by order dated 17.7.1995 (Annexure -12). By this order this Court refused to interfere with the impugned notice/order contained in Annexure -7 inspite of noticing the plea for regularisation in terms of circular dated 18.6.1993. One of the grievances raised by the petitioners was violation of the well established principle of retrenchment i.e. ''first come last go ''. While considering this plea the court held that this issue relates to a question of fact which should have been appropriately examined by Industrial Tribunal/Labour Court for which the petitioners should have sought remedy under the Industrial Disputes Act. However, this Court directed the Secretary of the Department to examine the aforesaid grievance of the petitioners i.e. the grievance relating to violation of the policy of ''last come first go '' or ''first come last go" and with regard to another minor grievance relating to non -payment of bonus and washing allowance as a consequence of grant of regular pay scale in the minimum scale as per earlier order of this Court dated 12.3.1993 (Annexure 3). Thereafter, the petitioners filed thier representations contained in Annexure -13 and the same was rejected by the impugned order dated 7.12.1995 contained in Annexure 15.

(3.) THE only other submission advanced on behalf of the petitioners which remains to be examined relates to the allegation that in effecting retrenchment the respondents have violated the principle of ''last come first go '' or ''first come last go ''. This plea has been further elaborated by placing reliance upon a judgment of this Court dated 29.8.1995 (Annexure - 14) passed in a writ petition bearing CWJC No. 2475 of 1995 which related to some daily wage employees of the same department.